Speaking as an introvert from birth and a guy to boot, I'll be one of the first to say that being single has innumerable advantages. You can come and go whenever you like. You can stay late for work (or, if you like, for noding) without having to call. You can cook strange meals and not worry about anyone else going hungry if it flops. You can avoid cleaning your kitchen for days at a time. You can have friends over for as late as you like. You can decorate the place where you live any way you want. And you never, ever have to worry about other people wanting to do something in your house you don't want done, and if they do, you can tell them to go home and do it somewhere else.

I have a theory that most people need love because everyone needs someone else in their life who thinks that they're a better person than they perceive themselves to be. Of course, there are no lack of people in the world who think the absolute world of themselves already, and they're probably better off without sharing their lives with anyone else. More power to them, I suppose.

"Unconditional love" is really a redundancy; real love is by necessity unconditional, given without any requirement or expectation of return. People usually envision love as being about emotions or gifts, but its also about faith, about accepting another person for what they are and at the same time believing that they have the potential, the ability, to become something better. And this hope and faith, like everything else in love, is given freely and generously, as often as needed.

And when you experience this, not just the first time but every time, it's like you've been on the brink of starvation at every other time of your life and are suddenly offered a seat at the Queen's holiday feast. It makes you feel like you can run around the continent and back, like you can fend off an army with your bare hands, like you can do anything, anything, because this one person believes without question that you can.